


Sea Water, Salve, and Sketches

by Lexigent



Category: Change of Time - Josh Ritter (Song)
Genre: Artists, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Disabled Character, Healers, Mental Health Issues, Nonamorous Society, Other, Pagan Gods, Physical Disability, Polyamorous Character, Polyamorous relationship, Polyamory, Polytheism, Queerplatonic Relationships, Sailing, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:46:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24341536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lexigent/pseuds/Lexigent
Summary: Two magic users from a nonamorous, non-monogamous society on an island care for, take in, and make their home with, a traveller from foreign parts.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Nonbinary Character, Original Male Character/Original Nonbinary Character/Original Nonbinary Character, Original Nonbinary Character/Original Nonbinary Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: Jukebox 2020





	Sea Water, Salve, and Sketches

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rhovanel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhovanel/gifts).



> Thanks Rhovanel for this wonderful prompt! I didn't quite manage to work time travel in here, but there is definitely travel and finding yourself somewhere that has different social norms from what you are used to. I ran out of time a little bit for everything I wanted to do with it, so it's rough around the edges, but I hope you like it.

Aelin tied their boat up in the small harbour, infusing the rope with a dose of Stillness magic to keep it where it was. They towelled off their hair with a cloth Zo had woven for them, then walked up the path through the settlement and towards home.

They were pleased with the day's work of mapping streams and currents far out along the islands that made up the archipelago that was home to them. After such a long time sailing, it barely took them any time anymore to go from sea legs to land gait and vice versa. They inhaled the air that became less suffused with sea salt as they went on. People were sunbathing, gardening, or playing games on the flat roofs of the houses, taking advantage of kalókai, the brief period of sunshine that the Deities granted them before the capricious weather of the fthíno season.

Aelin reached the door of their house. They dropped a seashell into the offering bowl near the doorframe, for Foúren, the Deity of homemakers, and lit Their candle on the shrine indoors. A custom from times gone by, but one that nearly everyone observed all the same. They washed their hands in the sink, then raised their arms to thank the Navis, Deity of the sea, for a good day's work, for keeping them safe, and for returning them to their home. 

While they showered and removed sea salt and seaweed from their skin and hair, they could hear Zo, the other inhabitant of the house, returning. Once done with the shower, they towelled off and worked one of Zo's healing salves into their skin, paying special attention to their face, hands, and feet. They exhaled audibly as they felt the Healing magic soothe the small cuts, knit angry red skin back together and smooth it out to a healthy light brown.

Zo smiled at them from the sofa as they exited the shower room. Aelin crossed the distance between them, sat down and pulled Zo into an embrace, then kissed them. Zo smelled of herbs like they always did, from doing the work of healing and tending to the needs of Giàt, Nosóke, and other healers' deities.

"There's some dinner in the pago. Are you hungry?"

"Yes. Let's eat on the roof." Aelin opened the door of the pagothík and busied themselves with food and plates while Zo got into the chair at the bottom of the stairs and pressed the button that carried them upwards.

Zo was usually a quiet person, but today they were quieter than normal. After almost the entire meal had been spent in complete silence, Aelin took their hand.

"What is it, joy?"

Zo sighed and nodded towards the unused chairs stacked up against the far corner of the roof, a pained expression on their face. Aelin squeezed their hand. They were happy together, but they were both aware that it was getting to the point where people looked at them askance for not yet having found at least one other person for their household. 

"I don't want to -" Zo started, but Aelin's gentle expression stopped them.

Zo had come from one of the inland places, where two-person households were the norm and were expected to divide all the work and raise their children by themselves, with little to no help apart from their own family's older generations - if willing and alive. Zo had seen first-hand how damaging this way of life was and the toll it had taken on their biological parents. When they had moved to Melanthis, they had vowed to do things differently.

"You aren't your parents. You're not even like your parents. You want to do things differently and that is why we are going to find someone before the year is up."

"But what if it isn't in my bloodline? What if I can't - "

Aelin sighed. This wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation."You know you can, and you will."

A moment passed.

"I know there's something missing that I can't give to you." Aelin looked at their hands. They had negotiated this. "So I know your worry isn't just about not being able to keep a number three, it's also about physicality."

"Not physicality," Zo said, "Sex."

"You know I wouldn't mind if you -"

"Went and got it." Zo nodded. "But that is definitely not in my bloodline. You know I've tried."

"Yes, darling." Aelin stifled a giggle.

"I just," Zo said. "I'd want it to be someone we both like."

"Well yeah, if we're going to live with them..." Aelin's flippancy was caught short when they saw the pained expression on Zo's face.

"Because you're also missing something I can't give you." Zo looked pointedly at their legs.

Aelin's heart constricted. They reached out and laced their fingers through Zo's, then gently kissed each fingertip.

"I adore you, and I assure you there is someone out there who we both like, who wants to sleep with you, and who can go on walks with me."

"And listen to you talk about cartography." Aelin was glad to hear the smile in Zo's voice.

"And listen to me talk about cartography, yes. And it's about time they found us, because we're obviously both missing someone who can help clear up the dishes," Aelin said and lightly kissed Zo on the mouth as they began to pick up plates and glasses.

They offered together before going to sleep, raising their hands and giving thanks to the Gamyes for their togetherness, not failing to ask for a Number Three to complement them at a time the Deities saw fit. 

***

Finn came to Melanthis in the changeable fthíno season, when sensible seafarers stayed at home or at least close to the coast.

The tragedy happened off the coast of the island. His small craft had never had a chance - it dashed against the walls of water that Navis had created and finally lost the fight and capsized. Two figures in lifejackets floated in the sea and finally came to the shore of the island. Finn had barely been conscious and the figure he had been dragging behind him had slipped below the waters of unconsciousness entirely.

Zo looked at the grey skin of the newcomers as they prepared a hot bath and strew in herbs that had been consecrated to Giàt, one of the healers' deities. They watched carefully as they were lowered into the water and their skin slowly suffused with blood again. Healers' assistants washed the sailors hair, lovingly ensuring all the salt and grime of the sea left their bodies.

A patient was a patient, but it was undeniable to Zo that these two interested them more than most. There was a story there that was worth knowing - where had they come from? Why had they sailed in the fthíno season? What was their destination?

Zo wasn't going to find answers unless either of the youngsters actually woke up again. They had been badly handled by the sea and it took a week of lying in a warm room and being given nourishment directly into their blood for one of them to even open their eyes again and another week for them to regain the power of speech. The other, notwithstanding the healers' best efforts, remained in the realm of sleep, forgetting, and unconsciousness.

Zo had other patients to look after and so there wasn't always time to spend with the sailor. But spend it they did, whenever they could. Their heart ached for this most unfortunate of creatures, cut off from any community. It was hard to imagine a worse fate.

A fortnight after the sailor had first been taken in, Zo asked their friend Aelin to meet them by the healers' houses. The sailor was strong enough now to walk short distances. They spent what time they could by the bedside of their companion, who was still unconscious and hadn't responded to human medicine, magic, or petitions to the deities. No one knew what the exact nature of their relationship was, but it was plain that they meant a great deal to each other. Aelin and Zo sat with them, not trying to fill the silence or soothe. A comforting presence, Zo knew, might finally loosen the sailor's tongue.

"She's my sister," the sailor finally said. The words hung about their tongue like honey, their thick dialect making it hard to understand for Aelin and Zo.

"What's 'sister'?" Aelin asked. The sailor looked at them with a puzzled expression. Zo replied.

"An old word for 'sibling', I think. Someone you're raised with. Do you have the same parents?" The sailor nodded. 

"I'm sorry," Zo said. 

"What is their name?" Aelin said softly.

"Stella," the sailor replied. They looked at Aelin as if they were seeing them for the first time.

"What's yours?"

The sailor closed their eyes and tears fell down their cheeks. "Finn." They bowed their head as if to hide their face in shame.

"Welcome, Finn," Zo finally said. "Would you like someone to hold you?"

"Yes please."

"And would you like that someone to be me?"

Finn nodded, tears dangerously close to spilling over. They all but fell into the open arms of Zo, who caught them with warmth and affection and let them cry themselves out.

The three of them became all but inseparable after this. Finn's body grew stronger day by day and soon Aelin was taking the young person on walks. They had to adjust their pace to Finn's, which caused them to slow down a bit. Finn liked to have pen and paper about them when they were out and Aelin soon discovered why. Whenever they took a break on their walks, Finn was sketching their surroundings. Soon they had a big oilcloth envelope full of sketches. When Finn's mind was strong enough to walk along the coast, they walked together by the edge of the sea. At the end of their first walk along the beach, Finn sat down for a long time with pencils and paper. Aelin sat beside them for a while, content to enjoy the silence and watch shapes emerge from under Finn's pencil. After a while, Aelin realised that this time, Finn wasn't drawing what was in front of them. "Are you sure?" they asked. Finn nodded. "I can ground you if you want," Aelin went on, and after another nod, they gingerly touched Finn's shoulder and let some Stillness magic settle into their body. When they finally put down their pencil, they were breathing heavily. One half of their paper was covered in a sketch of their sibling's face. The other depicted the sea in front of them, but not as it was now - as it had been then, with waves crashing all around in deep blue and black tones and in the midst of them, a small yellow dot, a craft about to capsize. Aelin removed their hand and looked at Finn with a puzzled expression, aware that a reaction was expected of them, but not sure what to do or say. "I bet that took some strength," they eventually managed, trying to sound as earnestly as possible. Finn smiled and put the sketch in the envelope with the others. "It did. Thanks, Aelin, for giving it to me." *** 

Finn was beginning to enjoy life on Melanthis. When he wasn't out with Aelin or at his sister's bedside, he spent time with Zo in the garden of the healers' house, being taught the names of medicines and subtle Healing spells that they could be infused with to give them an additional boost. The pride and joy on Finn's face when they held their first completely self-made bottle of healing salve in their hands made Zo feel warm in their chest. 

They were sitting outside a few weeks later, when Finn had been discharged from the healers' care. The kalókai had started and the sun was warming their faces as they rested after a day's work, stretched out comfortably next to each other in the garden of the healers' houses.

"So, will you try to find somewhere to live on Melanthis?" Zo tried to sound as nonchalant as they could. "Or will you go home?"

They knew what the likely answer would be, and yet they had to ask, if only for the sake of their own heart and mind.

"I'm going nowhere without my sister," Finn said, and quickly added, "and I'm not ready to give up on her either."

"So that's a yes to staying, then?" 

"Yes." Finn leaned towards Zo, let the side of their body rest comfortably against Zo's. Zo was briefly overwhelmed by the easy affection, unexpected in one not born and raised on Melanthis. They slid their hand alongside Finn's arm and found Finn's fingers. Finn caught them and interlaced their fingers, exhaling as he did so.

"Would you like to stay with Aelin and me, Finn?" Zo's voice was nearly a whisper.

"Yes please," Finn said. Zo raised their hands to their mouth, then turned and looked at Finn's face with a question in their eyes.

"And also, yes please," Finn said again before his lips caught Zo's in a soft kiss. 

***

Finn leaned back in his chair on the roof of the house. It was the eve of the anniversary of his ill-fated voyage. Finn inhaled the salty air. He looked to the left and right of him at the two people who had taken him in, then out at the sea.

In the past year, Aelin and Finn had walked the length and breadth of the island and its coast, mapping bays and inlets and the changes of the coastline from low to high tides. Finn had created a mountain of sketches of wild landscapes and views of the sea. He had also drawn a not unrespectable number of sketches of Zo. They had spent many pleasurable hours exploring the landmarks of each other's bodies. Most of Finn's sketches lived in a pile in Finn's room, but some of them decorated the walls of the house, and not all of them were landscape art. But the one he looked at most often was one he'd made of his sister six months ago. Finn sighed with the weight of memories. He pulled a small oilcloth envelope from his breast pocket and unfolded the piece of paper he kept inside it. It was soft and crinkled many times over, more akin to a piece of cloth at this point than a letter.

"You're missing her, aren't you?" Aelin's voice was soft.

"Like a limb," Finn replied, closing his eyes against a sudden sting."But I'd rather she'd be somewhere I'm not, and well, than here with me and sick." His finger caressed his sister's signature on the paper. "And there's always a new letter to look forward to."

"We miss her too," Zo said from his other side. "Ask her to come visit, won't you?" Zo's hand felt comforting on Finn's hair. Finn let Zo pull him towards them and kiss him, rest their hand on his face. "Of course."

He tucked the letter back into its oilcloth skin and pushed it carefully into his breast pocket, next to his heart. A subtle current of Healing magic worked its way along his chest from Zo's hand along with the steady presence of Stillness that radiated from Aelin, and Finn inhaled deeply as he felt his chest and heart expand. He stilled for a while, focusing on his heartbeat, his breath, the gentle crash of the waves below against the shore, and as he watched the sun sink into the ocean while his tears welled up in his eyes, he felt, for the first time in forever, finally well and truly at home.


End file.
